Ben-DutkaIt has been an interesting week, to say the least. 🙂
I don't understand…what exactly will Square Enix do with that feedback?
Square Enix is all about asking the fans what they think these days. First came the survey that asked for general Final Fantasy feedback , and now they put out another survey designed specifically to garner impressions from the FFXV demo .
I understand the first one, even if I sincerely doubt they'll bother to listen. The fans have been saying the same things for years and to date, there's zero evidence of Square Enix acknowledging such input. However, I don't think I get the point of the second, concerning the demo. If the game is really supposed to come out later this year, it's way too late to start implementing major changes and alterations. Tabata claims they're 80 percent done (still not enough to launch in 2015, given the ridiculous 8-year development cycle for this game) and if we choose to believe him, they're well past the creation and design stages. I mean, if we say we really didn't like the demo for fundamental reasons, there's absolutely nothing Square Enix can do about it at this point.
Maybe they're just looking for reports of technical problems, or something. And I suppose they could do some fiddling and tweaking depending on the responses. Demos are much like betas in that way; they should be used as gauges to see how far along developers really are. That's fine with me. I don't get any of this, though. The timing of the demo seems weird, the completion percentage doesn't fit, and all this running around gathering up data from consumers…it just seems way late in the day for that.
Maybe Resident Evil 7 will be a super huge E3 announcement
It's hardly official and there are any number of ways to interpret the information. But when you hear about a new Resident Evil supposedly set for fall , you have questions. One would be, "how come we haven't seen anything yet?" Another would be, "what can we expect after the controversy surrounding Resident Evil 6 ?"
The latter title was one of the most challenging games I've ever had to review. It was extremely difficult to reconcile the expectations of survival/horror fans everywhere with Capcom's new vision. It stands to reason that some gamers despised it while others really loved it. I remain on the fence to this day, but I lean toward the necessity of returning to the franchise's horror roots. We're seeing more of that in recent years, what with games like Outlast , The Evil Within , and the upcoming Silent Hill . Maybe because of this "backward" shift, Capcom will do the same with Resident Evil . Then again, given the necessity of producing mainstream products at this stage, they might go even farther in the action direction. And honestly, I think that'd be a mistake.
Maybe it'll show up during Sony's E3 stage presentation…which I hope will be loaded with fireworks .
Personal gaming update
Between my review and follow-up editorial , I imagine I've made my thoughts abundantly clear. It's a great game and one that will prove to be rewarding and fulfilling for the right consumer. It also exemplifies that which we've left behind, in a lot of ways; it's a challenge that presses us at every turn, demanding our utmost attention and ingenuity. Like I said, it's not necessarily my cup of tea but I know all about the thrill of victory in Bloodborne and I can easily appreciate its power. You just can't find anything else like it. That's why it's so important to encourage developers to follow in From Software's footsteps. …well, they could scale back on the difficulty just a tad. 😉
I have zero time for it but that Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a nice option for those who missed out on Borderlands 2 and/or Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel . Now it's time for a little break until I see Mortal Kombat X . Speaking of the latter, you should check out all the new gameplay that has been floating around these past few days; I already put up my favorite vids.
FFXV will be something I play based on the reviews I read. Right now it's not doing enough on it's own to warrant my time.
The Resident Evil series is one that has seemed dead to me for a long time. I don't know if I'll ever come back to them. I will say the original game, RE CV, and RE4 on GC were real great for their time. That may be all the RE I need.
PGU: I've been savoring the Bloodborne experience. Last night there were two instances leading up to the third boss that made be jump. I literally gasped. Glad I didn't scream like a girl!
Every session I play resonates with me for a good while until I play it again, even if a session only lasts an hour or two.
Sometimes I think I have enough favorite games in my back catalog that I could just mostly stop playing new games and just replay the old favs of mine until I die.
But it's games like Bloodborne that make me glad I'm still vigilant about finding new stuff. It's these sort of experiences that keep me gaming I think. Well, as much as I do.
My too short Spring break is over. ANd it's back to the books next week. Bring on more calc!
I managed to apply some digital ink to another comic page I drew. If anyone cares to see my work they can see it here.
http://david-mason.deviantart.com/art/Ghost-Page-3-Inked-523217553
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/28/2015 10:15:43 PM
Niiice ink man.
I blow at calc :'(
Need to get great at it sometime otherwise I can't make my own game engines anytime soon. Also will have to rely on my gf for figuring everything that involves matrix manip, vectors and so on too. Woop.
Thank you Banky.
Making a game engine sounds like quite the task.
Still working on Bloodborne, but I have to take it in stride. While it's a great game there are still some fundamental issues with its philosophy. After finding the faster route to the Cleric I figured this would be the case with all of the bosses, unfortunately I was wrong.
Instead I have found myself repeating the same 5-10 minutes over and over again just to get to Father Gascoigne, completely annihilate him for his first two iterations and then die near instantaneously after the third(and for those who have played this yes I have used the something box, which was an awesome discovery by the way) but even then I found myself getting killed almost instantly after the stun was over. Regardless of the fact I really do disagree with having to repeat the same sections over and over they're not challenging and they're not fun anymore, they're simply time wasters and an unnecessary punishment in the guise of being hardcore. To be clear the challenge of Bloodborne is very real, and it is incredibly rewarding when victory finally occurs, but I really don't agree with how the developer go out of they're way to punish the gamer by stealing time. This is something that I find completely unacceptable especially with the ridiculous load times in addition to. Anyways I needed to vent….I'm sure in a day or two I'll be spouting my love of Bloodborne again. In any case I'd like to see what your thought are on the matter of games intentionally wasting gamers time under the guise of XP and leveling up requirements. I personally think both Dragon Age Inquisition and Assassin's Creed Unity are very very guilty of this.
I do not mind running the same bits before the boss fights because that is the games design philosophy and without it the reward wouldn't feel as big. The game has to have some elements that are there to poke you and aggravate you a bit otherwise the souls games wouldn't have that crazy sense of accomplishment that they have.
As for advice on Father G, well the fight is basically a tutorial on using the guns to parry interupt and visceral attack.
His animations are easily interuptable, get a gun in your offhand and practice shooting him just as he comes in close to attack. I think this works in his transformation form too.
I used the hunters axe and beat him with it 2hand style. I beat him my second try by using the charge up R2 attack with proper spacing.
By the way there is a really fast shortcut to Father G, I don't know if you have found it but you can speed run to him in about…. a minute I think and there are only a couple of enemies and you can avoid all of them.
Do some exploring backwards from his entrance, there are 2 wolf men beside his arena right? If you go down those stairs I swear there is a really fast route to get to him. If you need to look it up online but I know there is a really good short cut to him.
Last edited by xenris on 3/28/2015 11:59:15 PM
Thanks xenris I'll give it a shot. I usually set up the elevator so that I can ride it straight down to the bridge but once you die you've gotta go the long way around and reset it incase you die again. Or you can go the lower level with the giant pig.
I've had no issue with the first two iterations 1st being his single handed weapon and gun, 2nd being the two handed axe, it just when he goes beast mode that he gets me, now that you mention it though i don't think I ever tried to shoot him after he transformed….now I feel pretty stupid.
My frustration with the repetition is that its not challenging it's just killing the same enemies at the same locations in the same ways, and when you can do it without taking any damage or using any expendables it just get repetitious. For me the satisfaction comes from defeating the enemy that I couldn't not the one I can and have multiple times before.
Xenris I just at it with Father G….Thank you! I just rocked him back to hell! God my relationship with this game is bipolar.
Squirreleatsman, I thought the third boss was easier than the second by a little. The Blood Starved Beast or something.
It's not hard to get to it unscathed. There's a combination of both a shortcut and a sprint to get to it. Also, the guy firing on you isn't a required kill. You don't have to fight him until you feel like it.
Xenris,
As for me, Boss 4, that Amelia Vicar, huge hairy dog girl thing, is giving me a tough time though. I can get her down pretty low but she hits so dang hard I die so quickly.
There's times I can get her in a repetitive fully charged R2 cycle where she constantly gets stunned because I hit her with it while she's attacking. If only she didn't have so much HP.
How did you take her down?
I had fun doing that old west style shoot out in the graveyard foresty place =)
No problem Squirreleatsman! I think the elevator to him should have a lever to pull at both the top and the bottom? If not you can always reset elevators when you get to the bottom or the top just use it and jump off really quick and it will reset for your next attempt.
Temjin,
Not sure if you would have beaten her by now but I will tell you my strategy for her. I tried twice and failed so I went to the left when you are running up to the stairs and I got to the forbidden forest. I recommend going there first and completing it and the boss there, it leads to a dead end but gives you a strong item when you beat its boss, and the boss I beat first try, I think because I was slightly over leveled. If you have done this place then I will tell you how I beat Amelia.
So I have Ludwigs holy blade, and I had the arcane gem in it, I think she is weak to arcane damage, but my axe was doing close to the same amount of damage so I don't think for that fight it really matters. If you have some fire paper try lighting your weapon on fire and see if the damage increase is worth it. Actually thinking back to it, she is definitely weak against elemental attacks, so get fire or bolt on your weapon, should make the fight less of a grind.
I basically stayed at a medium distance and tried to bait her big overhead smash, this leaves her open to punishment for a nice R2 attack. Then I would stay close and bait her 2 swipe combo and R2 charge her again, when she screams and gets charged up you have a chance to chip some health off of her. I would do this then run back to medium range and start the sequence over of baiting her big overhand smash.
Essentially you bait her attacks and then try to stay behind her.
Other tips I have are because she is so big dodging into her when she does a left or right swipe usually keeps you safe, at least that was my experience.
Be patient with your dodges 1 of her overhead smashes has crazy homing so you have to wait until the last moment to dodge.
What weapon are you using? My 2handed axe I was taking 150 or more damage off per L2. and close to 200 with a fully charged R2 if I remember correctly.
Last edited by xenris on 3/29/2015 11:40:58 AM
Thanks Xenris. I have yet to try out fire or bolt paper yet. Both of which I have, I just haven't used them.
I use both the Sawspear and Axe. The Axe I use for slower bigger anything, including humans, and almost exclusively in it's two handed mode. The sawspear works great on smaller faster beasts. I believe I read somewhere that's by design too. That it's type of damage works better against beasts. I could be wrong though.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/29/2015 8:52:43 PM
Yay for Vacations. I'm off all week, consider me at your disposal for discreet inquiries into events both past and future.
With the sale I went in for "Life is Strange." There can never be any argument over gaming as art again now. I love how it's tailor made for my generation too.
Ya know what sucks? I'm considered a
"Millenial" I shouldn't be lumped in with them, back in my day we were Gen Xers and our culture was unique, and its uniquely caught up in that artistic piece of gaming. Love it.
Agree with this comment
Why does is say agree with this comment? I didn't write that.
You didn't? How come it's not happening to anybody else?
Tell me if it keeps happening.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 3/29/2015 9:32:13 PM
It's okay, I'm been slipping the bonds of this material earth lately.
I don't know what they are going to do with the feedback either. Unless they are mainly looking for ways to tweak the combat or something I don't know what they can change.
Unless the game isn't launching this year, and they really have nothing completed except for the games assets….which wouldn't make sense because apparently they had a lot of the game build on their old engine and the part that has taken them so long is the port to the new Luminous engine.
All I know is that Tabata seems intent on making the best game he can and I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he can make a great Final Fantasy game, also considering it has Nomuras framework in place.
I would love a RE7 that brought things back to its roots. I doubt we will see that though.
PGU:
Bloodborne …. so much Bloodborne that my eyes are bloodshot for real.
I am just completely blown away by the level design in this game. I think Miyazaki probably has the best grasp on level design out of any game director I can think of. The interconnectedness of the levels, the shortcuts, EVERYTHING fits together so nicely.
Even the items that drop it all makes sense, if you start getting antidotes from enemies you can bet the next boss or area is going to have enemies that poison you.
The game is incredibly designed, and yeah people might not like the camera, or the difficulty but it REALLY isn't that hard when you sit back chill out and listen to what the game is trying to tell you. The game always gives you the tools you need and I never feel like I'm being cheated when I die. Except for one death when I got blocked into a combo because I was stuck on literally a brick that was about 2 pixels, I couldn't roll over it hahah.
But other than that this game is just so special. I would really love Miyazaki to make a game that it more accessible to other gamers that isn't hardcore, if only so that gamers could behold his incredible ability to create coherent worlds.
I would like to hear peoples experience with this game so far. Have people gotten into a grove and are finding it easy now, or is this game getting harder etc. Also what builds are people rocking?
Aye, it is something special.
The difficulty varies. The visceral attacks almost feel like cheating. For me dieing happens most with bosses.
Those alien looking guys carrying that bloody bag of something over their shoulder can kill me good though when they catch me off guard.
Yeah they were wrecking me for a while, but I figured out a good way to kill them….R2 charge with the 2 handed axe. Seriously I think its the best weapon in the game, I use that for everything, and pull out my arcane holy blade when I'm fighting things weak to fire.
Did you get killed by a body bag holder and wake up in a secret jail yet?
Yes. And the creatures roaming the halls in there are wicked powerful.
Also playing Bloodborne and on NG+. Level 98. Played offline mode so far and I'm up to the blood starved beast again. Trying to find help, but nobody is answering the call…
Bloodborne <3
I love it, grinding doesn't get old because every fight can be challenging if you're not careful you can die.
Currently at level 50 and I think I'm about to be at my next Boss fight, whichever Monstrosity may be after the Blood Starved Beast.
She's the lady at the top of the long long stairs in the cathedral level. Keep in mind if you die on her you can literally sprint to her bypassing every enemy to fight her again.
firstly idk if anyone understands what SE does these days or wat they might actually do with the fan feed back is a rather good question
2ndly i think RE7 at E3 is distinct possiblility at this point from what i can gather from you and everyone else and anything resonably good would be a step up from RE6.
and then finally PGU i finished unchartered 1 and when straight onto unchartered 2. then had a bit of pause to play some more bf3 on the ps3 online with a friend which was fun. bf3 is still so good to this day i enjoyed that alot then yeah thats about it.
have a good week guys lets hope for some more positive news this week, that would be nice to have sometime to chair about, rather than more problems.
happy gaming
Last edited by Rachet_JC_FTW on 3/29/2015 7:45:29 AM